The Secret Trinity: Reign (Fae-Witch Trilogy, Book 3) (7 page)

Although my parents were killed by the
Famorii
when I was an infant, and it was painful to think that I would never know them, this circumstance felt much different.  I had a hole in my heart from news of their death, but at least I didn’t have to watch them slowly suffer.  Even the thought of seeing a loved one in pain like that was absolutely agonizing, and suddenly I actually began to subtly glow.  My skin had an emerald hue that looked as if I had ingested sparkling pixie dust which was about to explode from my veins.  Aileen looked at me, her eyes filled to the brim with tears, and the glow burned on my skin even brighter when I saw her inner pain.

“Thank you for your compassion, Aria.  I’m alright now.”  Aileen finally said, taking her hand away, and the glow beneath the surface of my skin began subsiding.  I didn’t say anything all that compassionate, in fact, I didn’t say anything.  This wasn’t the first time that the thought of loved ones in pain had made me glow with energy.  I had only felt that kind of power a few times, and I thought I was the only one who could see the star energy glow within me when I wasn’t outwardly using it.  But maybe it was strong enough this time for Aileen to see it too.  She stood up and dusted her hands back and forth on the sides of her dress like she was wiping away her sorrow.

“How are your spells going?  Fiona mentioned that you would be meeting today.”  Aileen asked, changing the subject.

“Honestly, it could be better, but we’re working through it.”  I told her, grateful for the transition.

“I’m sure you will come up with something.  Magic has a way of surprising you when you least expect it to,” she said, attempting a smile.  When Adam and I escaped
,
he had put a conceal cloak spell on me using Black Magic in order to hide me from Liam.  Aileen had been the only one to detect it, and if Fiona the head of the Witch Council didn’t even notice it, I couldn’t figure out how Aileen had.  I thought now might be the only chance to ask.

“Aileen,” I began slowly, calling her by her first name as she had requested.

“Yes Aria,” s
he looked at me
,
waiting patiently for me to speak.

“Would you feel comfortable telling me why you were able to see the Black Magic cloak Adam placed on me?”  I finally asked in a discreetly low voice.

“I suppose,” Aileen answered in a sad voice, and she went to the paneled wall of book shelves, pretending to thumb through the titles before she began.

“It is a very long story and many from your generation don’t even
know of it.  I come from a well-
known and proud
Eartha
linage in our Court.  My parents were very well respected until my Father became too hungry for power.  Our house was even next to the
Eartha
King’s, so Bryan and I had grown up together and had been friends since before I could remember.  To make a long story short, my Father began to practice Black Magic with Ashen Witches outside of
Draíochta
.  By the end, the darkness had completely taken him, and with that came much suspicion because you could see it in his soul.  Once the true nature of his outside trips became known
,
he was banished from
Draíochta
forever.  My Mother and I would have been banished as well if it wasn’t for Bryan.  Even as an eleven year old Prince, he could be quite persuasive.  He knew my Mother and I had nothing to do with my Father’s Black Magic and that we had tried to help him and had begged him to stop.  I cried so many nights watching him use Ashen and he even hit my Mother a few times, drunk with power.  He wasn’t the same person anymore.  We wanted to get away from the darkness so badly.  I was the one who turned my Father in and Bryan made sure that my Mother and I remained safe in
Draíochta
.  I guess you could say that is the moment I fell in love with Bryan and I would always be there for him, even if he could never quite love me the same way.”  Aileen sighed and continued her fake interest in the books on the shelf.  Something about that last sentence was strange.

“What do you mean the King could never quite love you the same way?”  I asked, knowing it was none of my business, but I couldn’t help it.  I was shocked by the possibility that she could state that without a hint of resentment, even though she had been married to this man for years, had two children with him and had nursed him ever since he had become ill.

She sighed again, “Bryan lov
es me, of course.  However...”  H
er body began to shake.  Even from across the room, I could tell.

“I am sorry.  I can’t discuss this further.  I will only advise you not to speak of Black Magic in
Draíochta
.  It will not win you any points with the Court.  Congratulations on your
decision to move forward with your crowning.  We will meet soon to talk about the steps leading to the ceremony.  Please excuse me.  I must be getting back to my husband.”  Aileen said.  Discreetly wiping a tear from her eye, she began to exit the room.

“My apologies for keeping you, please give the King my best,” I said, and she nodded as she left the room.  I felt terrible for broaching the subject.  I knew I shouldn’t have asked.  No one wants to talk about why someone doesn’t love them.  I should know
,
I’m an expert on that.

I wonder what she meant by it, though.  Why couldn’t Bryan love her the same
way?  Maybe that’s why Clay wa
s so messed up about his feelings.  I didn’t want to make excuses for him, but I suddenly felt extreme remorse for shoving him in
Penni’s
determined direction.  I knew what could happen when someone is feeling rejected and upset.  It could create a kind of vulnerability that would be defenseless against a predator like
Penni
.  I had made a horrible mistake.  I didn’t want her touching one bony little finger to his defined square jaw, or looking into his striking blue eyes, or brushing her lips with his silky mouth.  I stood up abruptly, anxious to find Clay before it was too late.

I teleported to the cottage and dialed up Morgan on my cell, “Hey, I can’t meet you guys at the library with Fiona.  Will you tell everyone sorry for me?  Something came up last minute.” I vaguely explained, not wanting to get into it.

“Does this have anything to do with Clay barreling into the house an hour ago, all upset, telling Adam that his sister was bipolar?”  Morgan said, and I grimaced.  I used to think that about Clay, and now I was flipping the switch on him.

“Um, maybe, do you know where he is?”  I tried to ask casually, but after what Aileen had told me about her
un
usual relationship with King Bryan, I was on a mission to find their son and straighten things out.

“No, but you might want to find him f
ast.  Clay was mad in a way I’
ve never seen
before
, pacing our living room, and mumbling nonsense under his breath like he was slipping off the deep end.  Grant and Adam tried to talk to him about what was going on, but he just stormed out instead spouting something about giving you exactly what you want
ed
and finding
Penni
.”  Morgan said in a worried manner, obviously putting a few pieces together of what that meant.

“Why didn’t you call me?”  I yelled into the phone, totally panicked at this point.  Clay could be naked with that slut as we speak.  What have I done?!

“I tried a bunch of times, but you didn’t answer your phone.”  Morgan said calmly, knowing I wasn’t really mad at her.  I was just freaking out.  I slapped my palm to my forehead.  That’s
it,
from now on my cell is glued to my hip, every minute, of every hour, of every day!

“Okay, thanks.  I
gotta
go,” I said.  Not waiting for a response I clicked the phone shut.  I knew she would understand my briskness.  I dialed Clay’s cell and it went straight to voicemail.  I dropped my phone to the floor, and clutched onto the wingback chair to steady myself as
horrifying imagery flooded into my brain.  My heart was pounding so fast it hurt.  Complete and utter dread dripped down my spine, pricking my nerves with the sting of its needles.  Oh god, why is Clay’s phone off?!  He never turns it off in case of emergency.

I collapsed in the wingback chair and shut my eyes, but all I saw was what could only be a mound of Clay and
Penni
tangled up in the sheets on a bed.  My adrenaline was pumping so hard I couldn’t decipher if I had
traced
, or if it was only my vivid imagination.  I opened my eyes unable to stand the vision.  I slowly attempted to steady my breathing as I watched the flickering fire dance up the chimney.

I didn’t know where
Penni
lived, and it would take forever to teleport all over town trying to find them.  I had to calm down so I could
trace
them, and I prayed that the previous vision wasn’t real.  I was feeling light headed from the adrenaline rush so I rubbed my trinity’s emerald with my thumb, letting the panic subside.  I tried
to
concentrate.  After staring into the spectrum of orange flames for a while, I slowly felt my pulse coming down.  I thought about the many times Clay and I had talked in these chairs as we watched the fire.  It was always amazing how the glow of the light reflected off his glossy black hair that was never combed, but never messy at the same time.

A few more minutes passed and I felt brave enough to try again.  I thought of Clay and his eyes, the most wonderful color of blue that reminded me of a calm Caribbean Sea, and I asked my heart to find him.  I sucked in a breath when I was staring into those azure eyes from across the room that held no warmth as they usually did, only distance and anger.  I had
traced
Clay and unfortunately he was with
Penni
.  They were at a pub I had never been in before, playing pool together.  Only a few balls were left on the table as she bent down and took aim.  I don’t know if she was solids or stripes, but it didn’t matter, since she knocked the eight ball into the pocket, obviously trying to throw the game because it wasn’t near any other balls.  Why would she do that, I wondered?

“Whoops, I guess I lose and I need to pay up, but I have a different method of payment for you, Clay.”  She said with a wink as she returned her stick to the rack hanging on the wall and then hopped up to sit on the pool table
right in front of him.  I thought
I knew why she threw the game, and I definitely didn’t like where this was going.

“Oh yeah, what did you have in mind?”  Clay said with a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and he leaned his pool stick against the table beside
Penni
.  If I were Clay, I would be kindly explaining to
Penni
that she sounded like a prostitute, but whatever.  Clay was barely an arm’s length away, and
Penni
grabbed onto his wrist pulling him
toward
her to close the distance between them.  It reminded me of
our
hot kiss not long ago, when I was sitting on the sink counter with my legs wrapped around his waist.  In a few seconds that girl would be
Penni
, and suddenly I felt crazy with a deep jealousy bursting inside me I didn’t even know possible. The thought of him having a passionate encounter like that with
Penni
was...oh, hell no!

I snapped my eyes back open coming out of the
vision
and before I could even blink again I teleported to the pub.  I was once again shaking as the adrenaline coursed through me.  I couldn’t let this happen.  I appeared in the middle of the pub and a group of people jumped back in surprise.  I was a little off on my landing because my head was spinning.  I felt crazed.

“Where’s the pool table?!”  I shouted in a panic
, and twenty wide-
eyed people
,
too stunned to speak
,
simultaneously pointed to the back right corner just around the bend.  I lifted off the ground, and with a blur of speed, I flew past the bend just in time to see Clay sigh in concession as he closed his eyes about to give in to
Penni’s
lips.  She moved her hand behind his neck pulling him down toward her still sitting on the table.

I flew right for them and knocked into Clay, wrapping my entire body around him like a spider monkey, trying to save him from a dangerous predator.  He stumbled sideways upon my impact and we crashed into the pool stick rack on the wall.  The wooden sticks all came down on us at once with a loud clatter.  I latched onto Clay even tighter when they began to hit us, and he put a protective hand over my head to keep me from getting knocked out by one.  When the noise subsided, I unburied my head from his shoulder to look at him.

“I’m sorry,” I said
,
biting my lower lip.  Clay studied me for a long moment as he caught his breath. 

“Sorry
for knocking the wind out of me,
sorry for crashing my date, or sorry for pushing me to date someone else in the first place?”
  Clay asked with hitched breaths, raising one eyebrow as he waited for my response.  I unhooked my legs from his waist to get down now, aware that the entire pop
ulation of this pub had run
after me when I had so abruptly teleported in,
to find out what was going on.  But when I tried to get down, Clay held onto my legs keeping them firm around his waist, seemingly unaware or uncaring of our audience, he wouldn’t break eye contact until I responded.  I looked at him and watched as the pain in his eyes slowly fell away and warmth returned to his gaze.